Preparing To Bloom!

Well. Last entry's teaser has not yet come to fruition, but it does go along with today's theme! That last image is a prototype for creating window boxes. I'm happy with the outcome but am not yet entirely sure it is what I want to duplicate, and that will take some brain power and time to figure out. Until then, the outdoor efforts come along as members of The House are getting prepared!

As with any gardens, there's some weeding to do:

Get those little grubbies outta there to make room for the good stuff! The weeds are just random pieces of green I pulled from my stash of artificial flowers. (I hated weeding gardens when I was growing up. Like, I hated it more then than I do now. I can still hear it being asked of my parents: "Do your knees bend?" as I basically bent over and half-heartedly yanked a weed or so out. While not an intentional strategy to be dismissed from this miserable chore, being excused was a wonderful result. These gardeners will not have that question posed since their knees actually don't bend. 😄)

Anyway, just like at my own house now, the weeding isn't finished before supplies start to accumulate to plant! To that end, I made sure they had some good potting soil. I printed a picture of the soil bag. Then, I took a mini zipper-close storage bag and taped the picture on it with packaging tape:

Because I cut the bag down to size, I wrapped the tape over the sides and bottom to seal it. I trimmed the tape intentionally leaving some space on the sides of the label because I wanted to be able to see the "dirt" inside. I know that's not what real potting soil bags look like, but I thought it looked cool this way.

After taping, I simply stuffed it with the landscape "mulch":

It looks good, yes?

Headed toward those pots and others is an enthusiastic little boy delivering flowers to pot!

Polly is hanging around waiting to water:

They're ready for the hummingbirds, too!

The gold hanger is part of earring pieces! I cut down the hook so it wasn't HUGE. I think I need a few more of these fabulous feeders!

Soon, May will certainly bring an abundance of flowers! I already can't wait to see The House in bloom again!!

Back To the Bathroom

I just couldn't stop working with the bathroom as there are details that really NEEDED to happen! I mean, there's a pretty important function that could not be performed without this little addition:

Yup! I obtained a toilet paper holder!! I put it in yesterday and just checked it. You and I both see it slipped in the putty stuff. I wondered if I was using too much. Question: Answered. But, that's nothing a little toothpick detailing couldn't take care of:

Scrapey-scrapey!

And, voila!

Perfectly good enough. 😊

The other big improvement that was very necessary was providing the fam a shower curtain. I figured this would be reasonably easy because the shower curtain bar comes right off of the unit:

I found this whole bathroom set on Etsy and knew it was homemade (hats off to the creator because I really, really like the pieces!). It being homemade is what made this so simple as it's not embedded in or fused to the shower walls. It pops right out!

The real miracle of miracles is that I took the time to do two things to make this curtain happen. First, I ironed ...

... and, I sewed with the machine ...

The pics aren't really to demonstrate these basic skills. They are more to commemorate that I actually did them.

So, a lovely curtain now hangs:

And, if you peek inside the shower, I also adhered a soap dish:

Now that so many details are coming together, I added just a few on the vanity, too:

Members of The House are now able to be clean top to bottom as they can, also, brush their teeth. 😁 I'd made the carton of new toothpaste, but they now have a tube and toothbrushes thanks to the wonders of online ordering!

Here's the big picture:

Nice, huh?! I think so. And, I legit do not know what else I would really do right now - except get a light in there and frost the door windows. But, what's the hurry?!

I'm distracted anyway as I have a new project underway. Here's the teaser:

Stay tuned ...

Droplets of Color Abound!!

If you're up to seeing something really cute, then you definitely want to take a peek at members of The House celebrating Easter!

To accommodate their fun, I made sure they had an egg hunt! I proudly present polymer clay eggs, a go-go!

I had one of The House members hanging out on the table with me so I could make sure of the size! Then, I went to town making eggs in each clay color that worked for Easter! I made six of each simply to remember how many to find! If you've hidden or looked for eggs, you know how that goes ...

After baking, each got a dip in the semi-gloss poly:

I dunked them, tapped the tweezers lightly (working to avoid dropping the egg into the vat-o-poly) and put them on parchment paper. After letting them sit for a few minutes, I transferred the dunked ones onto a new piece of parchment so they wouldn't sit in the pool that accumulated under them after the dip-and-tap. They sat on the new parchment for about a minute before I rolled them off of their spots just to make sure they weren't sticking. This little process worked like a charm!

And, the outcome is fabulous!! They are oh-so-shiny looking just like plastic eggs! This particular process was very satisfying! It was better than the traditional egg dying. You know. The kind where you drop the tablet into the vinegar and let the egg sit only to have a faded representation of the dye color OR you let the egg sit in the dye forever-and-a-day which is just frustrating and dumb.

But, who cares about yesteryear when this is the current result!

My Girl said they look like Nerds candy! They, do, too, which is a good heads up for down the road should there be littler hands interested in the dollhouse goodies! Anyway, My Girl joined me in creating the hunt:

This one served as my model, so she got in on the hunt fun:

And, sure, the basket is a little big, but you use what you can to get the loot!

This is where the Big Bunny was a little mean:

On the roof?! I blame Hal for that.

I love the eggs, and I also love the Easter garland across the front and sides! I'm pretty sure I picked that up from Hobby Lobby many weeks ago ...

I'm glad I had help from My Girl because I would have never thought to just put the eggs out like this ...

... but, I love how they look! It's good for the tots to achieve egg hunting success, too! 😊

Across the way ...

I know you don't recognize these people. I barely do. They're new, and I love them! They came in to quarantine with family for now!

Some of the family is still inside enjoying a little brunch!

In my real-life world, it's our family tradition to have colored pancakes for Easter breakfast. Check 'em out from yesterday:

So, of course, The House needs the same! I made them out of polymer clay, too. The syrup is liquid clay that I colored with shavings from chalk pastels!

Some people are more interested in dessert, though ...

I most definitely did not make the cake! I recently ordered it from Miniatures.com. I ordered it because I knew I would never, ever make that cake. 😁

And, up on the sun deck, we have Grandpa Buddy and Holly Ann having a peaceful play date because they are good buddies:

She has an egg for each of the dolls on the table, and Grandpa Buddy has the chips stash ready for snack time!

Putting the eggs out and adding so many splashes of color was just delightful! It felt like punctuating little bits of hope and happiness all around both in this house and our own! More signs of life to come!! After all, signs of Spring are due ...!

More Updated Looks!

The updates for today aren't huge, but they are definitely nice, little touches that make The House feel like Home Sweet Home ...

We'll start in the bathroom:

I've had a particular vision for the bathroom in my head for months. And, that vision was to have these signs hung in there:

They're just made with scrapbook paper mounted on card stock. I've had the Doodlebug rub-on letters for.ev.er, and they're a favorite! So, they had to be used for this!

Let's get a close-up of the toilet area, shall we?

That stand is actually supposed to be for holding fruit, but I think it looks awesome here!

Across the room ...

... is the view of the new bathmat and towel rack. The towel rack might or might not stay where it is, and it's definitely getting new towels at some point, but it's good there for now.

Finally ...

I love this little basket for not only extra bathroom supplies, like toilet paper, but also for the necessities like the rubber duckie. Yup, you read that line correctly. I'm so glad there's a basket for goodies but not yet a shower curtain ...

ANYWAY! Right below the bathroom is the eat-in area where I finally made and hung some wall decor:

Don'tcha just looooove?!?!? I do! I had a piece of scrapbook paper that I bought, ohhh, 10 or more years ago 😮 which was entirely patterned with the vegetable squares. I cut and mounted them on pieces of balsa wood, and they hang with the fabulous Elmer's putty stuff. Because balsa wood is so light, it was a little tricky getting it to stick to the putty. But, a little perseverance made it work.

Take a look across the room:

Do you see what I see? Yeah ... asparagus is on its side! Whoopsie!

There. That's better! I would have never noticed if not for taking a picture of it! Oh, and the artichoke is the very reason I bought the entire piece of scrapbook paper. Artichokes are, in my opinion, the world's most perfect food, so I had to have it. And, more than a decade later, I'm so glad I did! And, how perfectly do they go with the color of the walls?! A plethora of jewel tones surround the casual diner!

There are the latest details! More to come ...